Columns

Pug Ravenel died last month. He was 79. Most people living in South Carolina today don’t know who he was or what he did. But they should learn.

Pug epitomized the triumphs and tragedies of what is and what might have been for South Carolina.
Full disclosure: I worked for Pug for almost two years when he ran for the U.S. Senate in 1978. I was a true believer.

April 15 is a day most Americans dread. But for millions of hardworking taxpayers, the completion of tax returns is actually unnecessary.
The government maintains records showing how much tax has been withheld from their paychecks. Their income is on file. The amount of tax they owe or tax to be refunded is on file, too. Yet tens of millions of hours are wasted with millions of Americans filing their tax returns with information the government already has.

With 15 candidates competing for votes, things are heating up in the special election to fill Mick Mulvaney’s seat in the 5th Congressional District.
On behalf of our 81,000 members in the 5th District, AARP South Carolina wants to know where these candidates stand on protecting Medicare for the future and their specific position on “premium support” (a.k.a. Medicare vouchers).
So what are Medicare vouchers?

As we look around the world this Easter Sunday, we see the realities of violence, disease and famine, of graphic horrors in places like Syria and Egypt.
With all this suffering, it is a fitting moment to ask a well-worn question: Why do bad things happen to good people?
My attempt at an answer would be to examine the word “good.” It’s an extremely relative term. I can look around and find persons with whom I can compare myself, and I can reach the conclusion that compared to them, I am pretty good.

Editor’s note: We have offered the 5th District congressional candidates one column apiece to make the case for why they’re the best choice.

I believe in America because I believe in South Carolina’s 5th District.
Over the past two months, I have traveled this district. While the individuals I met each had different perspectives, different experiences, different challenges and different hopes, they were all bound by an unabashed optimism. They see, as I do, the incredible potential of our state and country.

The Lancaster County school board recently announced its three finalists for the position of superintendent.
In the 19 years that I have been back home, I have been observant, passionate and sometimes critical of our current superintendent and members of our school board. I have been an active servant, willing not only to voice my concerns but to participate in the process of educational change.

I am endorsing Tom Mullikin to replace U.S. Rep. Mick Mulvaney in South Carolina’s 5th District. My reasoning is simple: Tom is the best man for the job.
That said, this is not an endorsement I take lightly, nor did I decide to lend my support without great reflection and consideration. Fact is, I have other friends in the district who are also campaigning for Mick’s former House seat.

In his March 20 response to my earlier article, Michael Jedson contends that the Republicans said “no to anything/everything Obama tried to get through Congress.”
What about the $800 billion stimulus approved in 2009 that disappeared into big bank bailouts and crony projects like Solyndra without creating many shovel-ready jobs or green-energy programs?
What about Obama’s two Supreme Court appointments, which many Republicans supported? One of them boasted of having a Hispanic and feminist agenda in her mind, which should have disqualified her.

Last week the S.C. House approved the first round of nominees for the state’s new Ethics Commission, and Sen. John Courson appeared before a judge to post bond dealing with criminal ethics-violation charges.
These two events, which happened within hours of each other, are the perfect backdrop to show how South Carolina’s current ethics system has failed us and how the law that will take effect this month will likely suffer the same fate.